How to migrate Google+ pages and APIs before the shutdown

Google is sunsetting consumer Google+ in April 2019. Here's how developers and other professionals can save their information.

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Developers and business users only have a few months left to migrate pages, photos, videos, and APIs from Google+ accounts, as the network will shut down on April 2, 2019, Google reminded users in a Wednesday blog post.

Back in October, Google announced that it would shut down the Google+ social network after the company's engineers found an API bug that could have exposed the private profile data of more than 500,000 users. When a second bug was found in the Google+ API that could have been exploited to steal the data of nearly 52.5 million users, the tech giant moved the shutdown date from August 2019 to April 2019. No third parties exploited either bug, according to Google.

On April 2, Google will begin deleting content from consumer Google+ accounts, including photos and videos from Google+ in Album Archives, and Google+ pages. Users can export and download all Google+ data by following thesesteps:

1. Go to the Download your data page. You might have to sign in. Your available Google+ data will be preselected.

2. Click Next.

3. Choose a file type.

4. Choose how you want your data delivered.

5. Click Create archive.

Professionals who use Google+ as part of G Suite will see their accounts remain active, Google noted, as Google will continue on as an enterprise collaboration tool. Many companies have already adopted the Google+ on-demand platform as an intranet or Slack alternative, our sister site ZDNet noted.

Google will also shut down all Google+ APIs, including Google+ Sign-in and requests for Google+ OAuth scopes, according to the post. The API shutdown date is earlier than that for the rest of the network—March 7, 2019—so developers must prepare. The sunsetting process has already begun, and developers may notice occasional API failures leading up to March 7.

Developers can migrate from Google+ Sign-in to Google Sign-in. You can find detailed instructions on how to do so here.

More enterprise-specific Google+ details will be coming later this year, according to Google.

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

● Google+ pages for consumers and developers will shut down on April 2, 2019.

● Google+ will live on as an enterprise collaboration platform.

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